


Divergence

by Sorenalice



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: AU, Angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-08
Updated: 2014-04-23
Packaged: 2018-01-07 23:08:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 11,646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1125472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sorenalice/pseuds/Sorenalice
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Formerly known as Ghost Hunger Variant. The videos about puberty that had scarred the whole fourth grade class never said anything about growing fangs or claws. Maybe a little something about cravings, but not cravings like this.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. New toys

**Author's Note:**

> Based off of tumblr user scrollingdown, aka god's divergence au. Go shower her with love and praise and worship.

Thick, red, syrupy blood dripped down the handle of the pliers, staining my hands and the crisp white tiled floor. I whimpered in pain and pulled more, working it out slowly. I could feel my gum ripping away with it.  
I had no anesthetic or anything to dull the pain, I could only clean off the pliers and hope that it didn’t get infected.  
Finally, the fang came out. I cried out and slumped, panting hard, my mouth full of coppery blood. Tears streaked down my face, blurring my vision and making the world look like a big blurry blob of white and red. I looked up at the fang. Clean white, wicked sharp, dripping some clear, foul tasting liquid, and covered in blood.  
The pliers shook in my hand, the shining metal stained red with my blood. The clock on the wall read 6:02 pm. I’d been doing this for twenty minutes.  
That was only one fang.  
I had one more to go.  
I gave a shaky sigh that sounded more like a sob, and got to work on the next one.  
I’m pretty sure sprouting fangs was not in the puberty videos we watched in school.  
After nearly half an hour, someone knocked at the bathroom door. I was almost done with the fang.  
“Danny, are you in there?” I hesitated, taking the pliers out of my mouth.  
“Yeah.” I held back a groan and hunched over in pain.  
“Dinner’s almost ready. Come on down as soon as you’re done.”  
“Alright.” I waited until I was sure she was gone, and ripped the fang the rest of the way, holding back a scream.  
Panting, I glanced up at myself in the mirror. I was a mess. Blood ran out of my mouth, staining my face and shirt. Blood spattered on the walls, floor and mirror across from me. I took a shaky breath and threw the fangs in the garbage. I wiped away all of the blood and washed everything off, throwing the towel away too. I turned my shirt inside out and cleaned off my face, making myself look presentable for dinner.  
I slid open a drawer and rummaged around for a bit, searching for a small, white bottle. Eventually I found it, pain relievers. I checked the dosage and popped two in my mouth, taking them with a swig of water that stung my gums.  
I set my shoulders, staring at myself in the mirror, checking to see if I’d missed anything. Seeing nothing, I put a fake smile on my face, and walked out of the bathroom.  
I was hoping dinner was soup or something like that, I didn’t think I could handle any tough foods at the time because of obvious reasons.  
I sighed and plopped down in my seat at the kitchen table. “What’s for dinner?” I asked hopefully.  
Mom smiled at me “Steak, veggies and potatoes.” Okay, really? Out of all days to have steak? And the way my parents cook it makes it extra tough. This is gonna end very well.  
I nodded, forcing a smile, and filled my plate, rejecting the steak, opting instead for the cooked veggies and mashed potatoes. Mom looked at me strangely.  
“You aren’t taking any steak?”  
“I’m not all that hungry.” She nodded, then looked down at her plate and stabbed at some beans.  
Dinner was a quiet affair, only the scraping of our forks against our plates and the occasional round of small talk.  
“We’re opening the Ghost Zone portal tomorrow.”  
“Really?”  
“Oh, darn. I’m going to be in the Library all day tomorrow. You’ll have to turn it on without me.”  
“Aww, c’mon Jazz, live a little.”  
“I will once I pass all of my exams.” Jazz huffed and poked at her steak.  
Halfway through dinner my fingers started hurting. Badly. I had to excuse myself to go check it out.  
Wincing, I put away my dishes and cleared my spot. I ran upstairs when I finished, and locked myself in my bedroom.  
I turned on my bedside lamp and stared at my fingertips in the dim yellow light.  
Thin slits were cut in the center of each fingertip. They itched like crazy. I scratched at my index finger but flinched at the sensitivity.  
When I flexed my hand I nearly jumped out of my skin. Ten little scalpel- shaped claws shot out of my fingertips. I dragged a finger across one, making sure not to cut myself, feeling it tug at each crease in my fingerprint. I poked the tip and grimaced at the pinprick of blood that grew on my finger. These things were too sharp.  
I flexed my fingers again and the claws shot back inside the slits on my fingers. At least they’re retractable. I probably won’t have to pull these out. The fangs were in the way, and noticeable if I looked up. They could fold up against the roof of my mouth, but they could easily be seen.  
I flopped down in my bed, not even bothering to take off my clothes. It’s been a long day. My gaze wandered tiredly around my room. Model rockets dangling from the ceiling, band posters taped on the walls, the faint smell of sweat hung in the air. I barely had enough time to turn off the lamp before I crashed.  
\--X--  
It was small, green and glowing, and it smelled delicious. My eyes narrowed as I readied myself to pounce after the shaking creature. My muscles tensed, strings ready to snap.  
The green thing looked around nervously and took a step away from me.  
That’s when I made my move.  
My claws sunk into it, tearing at its flesh and sinew, nicking a bone and making it scream in pain. I felt my fangs fold out from the roof of my mouth. I bit down, poison seeping from my fangs into the little ghost’s body, blood smeared on my face. After a minute or so, the creature stopped struggling, its movements slowing down and becoming sluggish.  
It was over in a second.  
The creature’s green insides splattered all over the ground, coating it in the thick slime. It smelled like lemons, acidic, but sweet.  
The creature’s blood ran down my face as I took bite after flavorful bite. It was exhilarating.  
The hunt, the chase, the catch, the feed.  
It was beautiful.  
I stalked around, in search for more ghosts like this one.  
The next one was shaped like a human.  
\--X--  
My eyes snapped open with a jolt.  
It was a dream. It wasn’t a nightmare. You know how sometimes you have those dreams that, when you look back on it, it should’ve been terrifying, but it wasn’t, it was a dream? It was like that. This was actually a good dream.  
Cold sweat ran down my shaking body, cooling me off. Panting, I threw the covers off of me and sat at the edge of my bed. My heart thudded behind my chest.  
I put my head in my hands, gripping at my hair.  
Fangs, claws, violent dreams that weren’t nightmares?  
What am I?  
What’s happening to me?


	2. Cravings

I was white knuckling the blankets on my bed, trying desperately to ignore the smell. That beautiful, rich. delicious smell. It wafted up into my room from the lab, teasing me. I had half a mind to just run down there and rip whatever ghost Mom and Dad had dragged from the Ghost Zone apart and shove it down my throat.  
My stomach gurgled at the idea.  
I don’t even like ghosts. They were a major part of my life because of my parents, but I’m not even interested in them. I’m more into astronomy. The study of stars and planets and galaxies and everything out there in space…  
Either way, I have no interest in ghosts, but as soon as Mom and Dad caught their first one, all I can think about is going down there and devouring whatever poor ghost they captured.  
It’s been a week since Mom and Dad opened that ghost portal. They haven’t taken us down there to see it yet, for ‘safety reasons’. Apparently, the last time they tried this it blew up on a friend of theirs.  
My fingers haven’t gotten used to having claws shoved up inside them. They were actually pretty useful when I had to open up a new package of ear buds. Those containers are impossible to get open without a knife. But touching something is still pretty awful. Taking notes and doing homework, even playing video games, everything felt like something was stabbing the insides of my fingers. They can’t stop growing either. They break really easily, I broke two when I opened that ear bud container, but they’re getting really long. I may have to cut them soon.  
The fangs are still gone, thankfully, but they feel like they’re coming back, which is impossible, right? But I can feel it, right up in the little pocket right behind my top incisor teeth, something is coming down, something solid  
Sighing, I buried my head under my pillows and tried to ignore the tantalizing smell coming from beneath the floorboards. I don’t know how long I laid there, just trying to feel normal. Is this what they meant when they said I’d feel different with puberty? Because that was a bit of an understatement.  
I heard footsteps tromping up the stairs, the floorboards creaking underneath the weight of whoever it was. The footfalls were too heavy to be Jazz or Mom, so it had to be Dad.  
His steps slowed to a stop right outside my door. He knocked on my door lightly.  
“Danny boy, come on down and see the portal. We’ve got it stabilized so it’s safe to come down.”  
I sighed, burrowing my head into my pillows even further. If I didn’t go down they’d wonder why, and when they wonder why, they investigate, and if they investigate, they worry. They don’t need to know about this. Any of this.  
“Sure, Dad. Be right down.” I said. I sat up, groaning. I would have to keep a strong hold of myself. I didn’t exactly want to actually go up there and rip some poor ghost apart and eat it, no matter how much I actually did kinda want to do that.  
I rolled off of my bed and staggered out of my room. The smell got stronger with every step, along with the urge to go and commit an act of horrible violence.  
I lumbered down the steps to the basement, I felt my heart pulse beneath my chest, my blood rushing through my veins. Shivers ran up my spine and a cold feeling settled in the pit of my stomach.  
When I finally reached the lab, the feeling was overwhelming. I needed to find a ghost and eat it. My parents were at the other end of the lab, standing over a lab table, a gaping hole in the wall echoing with green energy. Jazz stood off to the side, an annoyed expression on her face.  
Dad looked up at me and grinned. “Danny! Are you ready to see the ghost portal?”  
“Yeah.” I smiled meekly and approached the portal, feeling numb. Jazz threw up her arms and huffed.  
“I need to go to the library. I’m out.” She ran up the steps and out of the lab. Mom smirked a little and sighed.  
“Well, Danny, it looks like it’s just you. We caught a ghost earlier today. Can you believe it, an actual ghost?” That’s right. My parents, the professional ghost hunters, had apparently never seen a ghost. Their entire career is just one big leap of faith.  
She kept talking, but I couldn’t hear her over the voice in my brain telling me to launch myself into the ghost portal and eat everything in sight.  
I gazed into the pleasantly swirling rings of green energy, watching waves rise and fall, rivulets curling in and out of the grassy colored abyss of the Ghost Zone. It felt like it was calling me, and I honestly wanted to go. A voice pulled me out of my reverie.  
Danny?  
“Danny?” I broke my stare at the portal with difficulty and looked over at Mom. She was looking at me curiously and holding a slim, steel thermos in her hand. “Are you listening?”  
“Yeah Mom.” I lied. She smiled at me and continued talking.  
“Anyway, we built this table here a few years ago, in preparation for this. The strap sizes are adjustable, so we can have almost any size ghost pinned down here. The whole thing is phase-proofed and strong enough that a ghost couldn’t break it. We’re gonna strap this little baby on there and…” I stopped listening again. The thermos she was twirling in her hand smelled amazing. Even better than the ghost portal. It smelled like fresh squeezed lemons in a newly cleaned kitchen, green beans sizzling in a saucepan and pop being poured out of a can. It wasn't so much a smell, as it was a sensation. It did smell wonderful, but it felt like more than that.  
I felt something heavy hit my back and was pushed out of my thoughts again. Dad stood over me, one hand on my back and a huge, toothy grin on his face. He was looking over at Mom, who was aiming the thermos at the lab table she’d been talking about.  
“Ready? Three, two, one, and-” A beam of shining, white light poured out of the thermos, illuminating the dimly lit lab. A scream echoed out of the thermos, and with it came a small, green rat-like creature.  
My mind went blank. I couldn’t think, couldn’t move. The world was as blinding white as the bathroom, unsullied with blood.  
Danny!  
I felt the fangs that I’d spent so long ripping out, tear through the still sensitive roof of my mouth. The tips of my fingers erupted into pain as the claws were forced out of their retracted position and out into the open. I could feel hot, red blood ooze from my fingers and mouth, but I didn’t care.  
The only thing I could see clearly was the ghost, its eyes widened in fear.  
I felt so hungry.  
It didn’t take any time for me to get to the rat. One second, I was standing halfway across the room, and the next I’m sinking my teeth into its flesh, injecting it with the toxin in my fangs, waiting patiently for it to stop struggling against the grip of my claws, waiting to eat it.  
I’m so sorry, Danny!  
The white world went black. The edges of my vision blurred, turning the gored rat into a big mess of green.Slowly, I felt the whole world slip away, my eyes sliding shut.


	3. Decidedly not human

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to everyone who read and just everyone in general, and especially thank you to tumblr user scrollingdown, for coming up with this rad little au.

My head hurts. I mean my head really hurts. It feels like someone's beating my head from the inside with a heavy sledgehammer.

I slowly blinked open my heavy eyes, the world still blurry. I didn't think I was in my room. The ceiling was too dark and metallic to be my bedroom. Groaning, I tried to turn over, only to find that I couldn't.

I tried again, even harder this time, and the thing I was laying on only jerked a little bit. I looked down at what I was laying on. Cold, shining metal reflected my very confused face. My eyes shot open.

I tugged at my wrists and ankles but they'd been tied down to the lab table. I started to panic.

I started shaking and my stomach churned. My breath came in gasps. The world around me spun like a kaleidoscope and I felt my heart pound in my chest.

"Danny!"

Mom entered my spinning eyesight and I felt her hands grab my cheeks.

"It's okay, sweetie, just take a deep breath. Alright? In through your nose, out through your mouth. Okay?"

I nodded and did as I was told. Slowly, the world stopped spinning. My heart slowed down with each breath and the shaking stopped. My stomach still churned, but I could ignore that for now.

"Are you alright, honey, what happened?"

"I-I don't know, I-I just woke up and- and I'm tied to a lab table and-"

"I understand, sweetie, I'm so sorry. We had to, to make sure you wouldn't try again…"

I stared up at her, my eyebrows furrowed and my mouth slightly parted. "W-what do you mean, what?"  
"You don't remember?" I shook my head no. She nodded and sighed, glancing across the room for a split second before her eyes were back on me.

"Let's go up to the living room to talk, alright. Jack's got some fudge and hot chocolate ready for us." She quickly unstrapped my arms and legs and helped me up off the table.

I followed her upstairs, where Dad was waiting on the couch, a plate in his hands, empty of fudge, and three steaming mugs on the table in front of him. He looks up at us, his normally jovial face solemn and serious.

"Danny. How are you?" he asked.

"I'm fine.. I guess, but-"  
"He doesn't remember anything." Mom cut in "Danny, just sit down and relax, we-we'll explain everything."

Mom pointed me over to the couch and left the room for a moment, coming back a few seconds later with a thick, yellowing file.

I sat down next to Dad, and Mom sat down on my other side, she put an arm over my shoulder and sighed. She looked up at Dad and nodded.

"Danny boy, you- you aren't my son."

I could almost hear my world shatter.

"Wh-what do you mean?"

"I am not your biological father."

"What, but you- you're…" I was cut off by my own sob. Hot, wet tears ran down my face.

"We're still your parents, Danny, of course we are. But there's- there's something- about you- that you should know."

-X-

_"Vlad! Oh-oh god, Vlad!"_

_The young man rolled over on the floor, clutching his blistering face and groaning._

_"Jack, c-call an ambulance!"_

_The ambulance arrived in a few minutes, and carried Vlad off to the hospital, Jack in the ambulance with him and Maddie driving behind._

_"Ecto acne." The stoic doctor turned and left the hospital room, leaving Vlad, Maddie, and Jack to their thoughts._

_Vlad looked at his scarred hands, tears streaming down his disfigured face._

_"Hey, Vladdie, it's okay. It'll go away, you'll see."_

_Vlad smiled sadly at Jack. "Thank you."_

_Vlad started hacking and coughingh, turning into a terrible coughing fit, ectoplasm bubbling up from his lungs._

_Two pitch black rings formed at his waist, running down his body and transforming him._

_His pale skin turned a light, dead blue, his white hair morphed to its original black color, a highlight of dark gray streaked through the middle._

_He screamed._

_"Half ghost?"_

_"That's what the tests say, Vlad."_

_"Is that even possible?" he sidled closer to Maddie, staring at her lips and making her look away._

_"Ghost powers, V-man! That's so cool!" Jack shouted, oblivious to Maddie's discomfort._

_"Maddie Anderson?" A man in a crisp white suit stood in her doorway, black sunglasses covering his face._

_"Yes?"_

_"I'm here to talk to you about your research. The half-ghost phenomena, specifically."_

_"Oh, yes. What do you want to know?"_

_"I am a part of a government organization dedicated to hunting ghosts, the GiW. You will be working with your colleagues to create a half ghost weapon that we can control."_

_Maddie was stunned into silence._

_"You will be paid handsomely."_

_Maddie smiled at Jack, who was trying to maneuver the rat into the chamber so it could be gassed with the serum._

_They decided it was too dangerous and not worth the risk to use humans. So, they used animals and a volatile mixture of ectoplasmic elements and genetic bonding agents._

_The rat, freshly dosed with the serum, coughed and hacked, blood and ectoplasm pouring out of every orifice. Dead and ghostless after a few seconds._

_Vlad hit the table in anger, his eyes flashing red. The new Rolex watch on his wrist clashing against the shining steel lab table._

_After a minute he looked up at Maddie, a pensive look on his face._

_"What if we made someone. Someone who could handle the ghost DNA. We could use my own DNA, because we know for a fact I can take it, and we could use Maddie's eggs so we don't have to pay for anything."_

_Vlad sighed in sadness as he incinerated the shriveled body of their 13th experiment. The thirteenth of his and Maddie's children that didn't even survive to be taken out of the artificial womb._

_13 experiments and 10 years, down the drain._

_Maddie and Jack were married, with a 2 year old daughter they called Jazz. Their family grew, happiness and love at its core._

_Meanwhile, Vlad had to burn his family._

_"We don't want something which just turns into a ghost, we want something which hunts them. A predator."_

_"That would take extensive genetic revision, there's no guarantee it would work because of that. Just give us a chance to work everything out with a normal half ghost, then we can see about making it predatory."_

_"We do not pay you for normal, Fenton. Project Phantom will be enhanced."_

_Of course. Why wouldn't it be?_

_The fourteenth experiment, the only one that had survived the full 9 months, the one they spent nearly a year on, enhancing it genetically, is completely human._

_All of the tests, every single one, say that there is not even a trace of a ghost in this boy._

_Vlad punched the wall, hard, cracking his hand and putting a dent in the dull white plaster._

_They used to be able to induce a transformation._

_Little white rings would pass over the baby's body in the artificial womb, making it's swath of black hair a pure white._

_That was all gone now._

_"Please, Maddie, just- I've loved you since I first met you."_

_"Vlad, no- just- no. Get away from me."_

_"Leave with me, Maddie. Come on. We'll be happy."_

_"Vlad, get away from me. Stay away from me and my family."_

_"Maddie, we have a son together."_

_"He's not our son, Vlad. He's just an experiment. You can't use that against me."_

_"Maddie, please-"_

_"No, Vlad."_

_The fire raged on._

_Thousands of records, ten years of data, millions of dollars of equipment, all gone._

_Vlad was blamed._

_The only proof was Maddie Fenton's restraining order._

_He paid his way out easily, what with his new found money supply._

_The fourteenth experiment lived, only getting a small burn on his back._

_"Mr. Masters, this child is human, and he is your son. Custody is rightfully yours." The dour looking judge glared down at Vlad, gavel clutched in his wrinkled hand._

_"That freak of a human is not my child and never will be!" Vlad yelled back at the judge, his eyes glowing red. The men in the white suits standing at the edges of the courtroom turned on their weapons with a whine._

_Vlad clenched his jaw and stepped away from the pulpit, his eyes fading back to their cold, dead blue. He turned his back to the court, and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him._

_"We'll take him. I'm his biological mother anyway."_

_"Are you certain, Mrs. Fenton? You already have one child, do you want the responsibility of another?"_

_"We've been trying for another. This way we'll get one. Besides, if I don't, this little boy will be all alone in an orphanage with nobody." Maddie shook her head._

_"If you're sure. The child will be yours so long as he is human. If that ever changes you are to turn him over to the GiW immediately." The judge stared down at Maddie, his forehead creased in concern._

_"Of course." Maddie nodded and looked over at her husband, who had an excited look plastered on his face. She smiled at him and looked back to the judge._

_"Very well. Do you have a name picked out?"_

_"Daniel James Fenton."_

_-X-_


	4. Unconscious yet again

I couldn’t move. Like, at all. You know when you’re home alone, and you’re just sitting in bed, ready to go to sleep, all the lights are out, and all of a sudden you hear your door squeak, and you just freeze entirely and you can just barely feel your own heartbeat and everything gets clearer and louder and you can barely move? It’s a little like that.

I can feel every single muscle contract in my heart. I feel like I’m breathing too much and my hands are getting gross and sweaty.

I tried to speak, to respond, but the only thing that came out of my mouth was “S-s-so, I-I’m…” Dad nodded, looking down at the ground. When he raised his eyes to meet mine, they were filled with tears.

“I’m so,” he gasped for breath, shuddering against the sobs that racked his body, “so, sorry, Danny, but-” he cut himself off and buried his head in his hands, weeping. Mom rubbed his back, trying to comfort him, tears running down her face.

A thought tore through my mind like wildfire.

The child will be yours, so long as he is human.

No.

Shit.

Fuck, no. My parents- I’m not human anymore they’re- oh, god. They’re gonna have to give me up. I’m gonna have to- god.

I’m a weapon, and they’re going to have to hand me over to the government. I don’t want to, I want to stay here with my family and friends and go to school, become an astronaut and just- just live.

I can’t- I can’t do this, I don’t want to- shit.

I’ll never be able to become an astronaut, I probably won’t even be able to graduate. I’ll be government property or something and they’ll be too busy making me hunt down ghosts to let me go to school.

But, you know, they might not. They might just let me carry on as usual and maybe only bother me sometimes?

But what about that Vlad guy? The bio-dad who rejected me because of my full-human status and basically assaulted Mom. Would he be interested in me now too? I mean- I’d never actually met the man, but he’s my biological father. I can’t help but wonder a bit what he’s like. Apparently, he’s a massive jerk, but I still want to meet him. But then again, why would I want to, the guy basically left me to the wolves. I could’ve died and he wouldn’t have batted an eye. I don’t know him, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt a little.

My head spun with all of the new information. The world around me got blurry and my stomach churned. White spots danced across my vision and grew, spreading across everything, drowning it in a milky white abyss. It faded to gray, I vaguely heard someone yell, then it changed to black, and I knew no more.

-X-

Danny’s body swayed where he sat and slumped forward into his knees. Maddie gasped and pulled him up, leaning him against the back of the couch. “Danny! Danny? Danny, are you alright? Danny?” she grabbed his face and patted his cheeks. His eyes were shut tight and his face utterly blank. She took off her gloves and held two fingers below his nose, and held her other hand to his neck, checking for a pulse and breathing.

She sighed in relief when she found both. Gently, she rested his head back against the cushions. “H-he’s fainted.” she wiped away her tears and ran a hand through Danny’s perpetually messy hair.

Jack let out a breath, calming himself and rubbing away his tears. “He’s taking this better than I expected.” Maddie chuckled.

“What did you expect?”

“A lot more yelling and screaming. Maybe some door slamming.” Jack smiled at Maddie, trying to cheer her up. Maddie smirked back and stood up.

“We should bring him up to his room. He’s had a hard day.”

Jack laughed, “I think that’s an understatement, Mads.” he hefted himself off the couch, careful not to let Danny fall. “I’ll carry him up. Go make sure his bed’s ready.”

She nodded and flitted up the stairs, two steps at a time. Jack turned to his son and slid an arm under his legs and head, he lifted with his legs and carried the boy up to his room.

Maddie waited by Danny’s bed, covers neatly pulled back and pillows fluffed. Jack carefully set Danny down in his bed. Jack tugged off Danny’s shoes and Maddie yanked off his socks, knowing how much he hated sleeping with them. She smoothed the blankets over her son and sat down on the bed beside him, stroking his face lovingly.

“What are we gonna do, Jack? We have to report this, if we don’t-” Maddie’s voice broke.

“-We’ll be locked up, I know.” Jack nodded solemnly “ But we can’t just tell them. They might take him away, we might never see him again.” He held back a sob and collapsed beside his wife.

“And Agent O comes around to visit on his birthday, that’s in a few months. There’s no way we can hide this from him.”

“But we could get a few months. We could claim that we didn’t know, that he was hiding it from us.”  
“Why would he do that?”  
“He’s already done it, Jack. His fangs came out with blood when he attacked that ghost. That means he ripped them out before and they were still growing back in. He already tried to hide it from us.”

“Why?” Jack held his head in his hands, rubbing his temples and messing up his neatly trimmed hair. “Why would he do that?”

“Because he was scared. He was scared of what was happening to him and he didn’t want to come to us because he was trying to be brave.” Maddie cleaned her face from the tears still streaming down and went back to rubbing Danny’s face.

Jack nodded. “We could hide it for a few months. Besides, maybe O won’t notice anything.” Jack rubbed Maddie’s shoulders, working all of the knots and kinks out. “There’s always a chance.”

Maddie sighed and set her shoulders, a determined look growing on her face.

“We need to test a few things. See what caused the development and if the transformation is complete.” Jack grinned at her.“ Oh, we need to give him another ‘Talk’.” Jack started, his smile sliding off his face like it was melting.

“No. I did it last time, I’m not doing it again. The first time was traumatic enough for the both of us. No thanks.”

“Fine, I’ll do it.”  
“You can’t do it, you’re his mom!”

“I know plenty about man parts, thank you very much. Either way, this isn’t even about all of that. He’s got a new digestive system and eventually he’ll get ghost powers. We can’t leave him in the dark about that, Jack.” Maddie said in a scolding voice.

Jack was blushing furiously “Ok, do it. Geez.” He glanced down at Danny, his forehead furrowing in concern. “We should let him rest.” He stood up and held his hand out to help Maddie up. She took it and hugged him.

“Why did this have to happen?” she whispered the question into his ear.

“I don’t know, Maddie. I don’t know.”

-X-

My eyes opened slowly and groggily. I saw the clean white sheets, each individual strand of thread glowing brightly in the morning sun that filtered in through my window. I looked up at my alarm clock to see the time.

“NOON?!” I jolted up in bed and whipped the blankets off of me. I froze when I saw the little note by my clock. Messy, cursive handwriting. Mom wrote it.

_Danny-_

_Just come downstairs and eat when you’re ready. We made pancakes and eggs for breakfast. We need to talk. We can do that while you eat._

_Love,_

_Mom_

A glass of water was set right next to the note, filled up and ready to drink. I took a few swigs and slid off my bed. I was still wearing the same clothes I had been yesterday.Why?

And then it hit me like a freight train.

The whole cannibalistic half ghost thing.

Right.

My mind once again was swarmed with thoughts about what could happen to me. What probably would happen to me.

I stood up, rolling off of my bed and catching myself on the cold floor. I wandered over to my closet and tugged on some hopefully clean clothes. I smoothed out my hair and slowly turned around.

The door, white and tall, and a little bit banged up. That door was the only thing standing between and the consequences of…of whatever this is. I had no idea what would happen to me once I stepped out that door. If I stayed in here, I would be safe from everything until my parents decided to come and check on me instead of letting me come to them. I had no idea what they would do, I mean, if they didn’t turn me in they’d get in trouble. That’s what the judge said. They’d be locked away and god knows what would happen to me. But if they turned me in, nothing would happen to them and I’d still be sent off to who-knows-where.

I took a deep, shaking breath and took a step towards the door. The floorboard underneath my foot shrieked at the sudden weight, but I pressed on. Before I knew it, the stiff metal of the doorknob was in my grip and I was twisting it, painfully slowly.

The door squeaked open and light from the hallway rushed in, bathing my face in bright sunlight. I looked back at my room. I figured it might be the last time I saw it. Gulping, I turned back to the bright hallway and strode out, each footstep less and less confident than the last.


	5. Ok, so that explains a few things

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all very much, especially tumblr user Scrollingdown, for reading this and I hope you enjoy this and have a great day!

_So, thank you to everyone who reviewed and read and everything, you give me motivation, especially when you yell at me to continue with this, so thanks for that. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this lil thing and have a great day._

I slumped into the rickety wicker chair. The backrest of the chair had been mostly burned away by experiments gone awry and the usual wear and tear. In front of my seat, a plate was filled with eggs, hashbrowns and bacon. Beside my plate, a glass of some sort of glowing green substance, ectoplasm, bubbled softly, the smell soaring through me and making me feel fuzzy.

Mom was bustling around the kitchen, cleaning up the remnants of lunch and breakfast. "Go ahead and drink the ectoplasm. You need it." She smiled at me as I reached for the glass and took a sip.

The taste felt like it was dancing down my tongue and throat. The bubbles popped and tickled my mouth. The lemony flavor almost sizzled across my tongue. My eyes drifted shut and I let the sensation of flying pass through me, lime-flavored pins and needles racing through me, electrifying my nerves. I moaned in delight at the feeling. It felt like something inside me had been filled. Something I hadn't even realized was missing. I was starving.

I came back to reality when I heard Mom chuckle. It sounded warped and distant, but I opened my eyes and focused on my surroundings.

"What?" She stopped laughing, and looked at me, a knowing grin on her face.

"Is it good?" My eyes opened wider and I blushed.

"It's alright." That only made her laugh more.

"Do you want more?" My eyes shifted downward, I nodded. She giggled and poured another glass of ectoplasm.

"Where did you get this?"

"Oh, the ghost you attacked earlier. It destabilized and liquefied. We were able to save a lot of it so we can feed it to you." I bit my lip and drank the rest of the ectoplasm.

"Sooo, you wanted to talk?"

"Oh, yeah. Uhm…" She paused for a few moments, thinking about what she would say. "Your body has changed. It's different now, so there's a few things you need to do….differently."  
"Oh my god is this  _the Talk_. Again?"

"No, this isn't the Talk. Well, I suppose it is, but this one's new. You're half ghost, and were meant to be a predator to ghosts. That means that you have special… features. You digestive system is different. You have two stomachs. One human, and one ghost. Your ghost stomach is phase-proof, meaning that ghosts can't escape it. At all. Unfortunately, this also means you can't throw anything up from this stomach either. That would be a way for a ghost to escape. If your ghost stomach gets human food inside, we just have to dilute it with probably a gallon of ectoplasm. If ectoplasm gets into your human stomach, you can just throw that up."

"Wait- but, how do I control that? I mean, do I have to think about which stomach I want to use before I swallow anything?"

"No, no. Your sense of smell and taste can detect what it is you're eating, and your epiglottis in the back of your throat can cover up the right thing so it doesn't fall down the wrong one. It'll be like choking"

"If the food can't be diluted with ectoplasm, we'll have to surgically remove it. Luckily, we've got the proper tools right in the basement to do that. " she smiled warmly at me. It was unnerving, given what she just said, but I shakily smiled back.

"Now, we're going to want to keep you full of ectoplasm so you don't want to go off and hunt for yourself. But the urge to hunt and the need to eat are different. So you'll want to go hunting, even when you're full. It's like a cat chasing a string. You don't need to, but you do anyway. But being full will probably stifle that a bit. Any questions?"

I shook my head, feeling numb. I never wanted any of this. I just wanted to be a normal teenager, go out, have fun, ignore the world, but no. I get to eat ghosts and enjoy it.

"Let's go down to the lab, I've got some tests I need to run."  
"Painful tests?" I asked worriedly. Mom shook her head vigorously.

"No. We'd never hurt you intentionally, Danny. Never." She stood and helped me up, dragging me down to the lab. The metal steps echoed beneath our feet with each step. The lemony smell of ectoplasm from the portal filled the air. I sniffed the air, breathing in the magical smell.

Mom sat me down on a lab table and plopped herself down in a rolling chair.

"So your claws, can I see them?" I glanced down at my hands, flexing the first knuckle and allowing the long, scalpel-shaped claws to stick out.

"Your claws are designed for slicing and cutting, not for grabbing and pulling, like a cat's claws are. They aren't hooked or anything, so you can't just dig your claws in and drag the ghost around. They're like fingernails, so they'll keep growing. We're going to have to cut and file them down so you can still hide them in your fingers. They're pretty fragile, so they might fall out or break. They'll grow pretty quickly. You can retract them."

I winced a little as the claws slid back into place in my sensitive fingertips. "The sensitivity should wear off pretty soon. You'll be able to use them without any pain then. Fangs please."

I opened my mouth and flicked my fangs from their folded position on the roof of my mouth. "Your fangs are similar to a snake's fangs. They're designed to hold venom. They're designed for injecting venom rather than actually biting, so I would avoid trying to drag your prey around by your mouth-"  
"Wait- I'm venomous now?"

"Yes… It's only effective on ghosts. It's just a tranquilizer. You're more or less immune to it in small doses. If you do start being affected by how much venom leaks out of your fangs, we might have to milk you…" she stared at my fangs with a pensive look on her face.

"What?!" My yell startled her out of her thoughts and she shook her head.

"Sorry. Snakes are usually milked of their venom so if they bite anyone, the person isn't poisoned and the snake isn't drooling venom everywhere. There's a chance that you might make too much on accident and it'll just end up everywhere and you might fall asleep."  
"Why is it called milking though? It makes me sound like a cow." She snorted and giggled.

"I don't know why. Ask snake owners. Anyway, the venom isn't instant. It'll take a few minutes for your prey to fall asleep, depending on how much you dosed them with and the ghost's power level. Both your claws and your fangs are phase proof, so you don't have to worry about your prey escaping because of that."

She paused for a moment, taking a deep breath. "How are you feeling? Overwhelmed yet?"

"Mom, I've been overwhelmed since you started talking, but I think the whole venom thing really pushed it." She chuckled and patted my leg.

"Do you want to stop? We can just relax for the rest of the day, pick this back up tomorrow."

I sighed loudly, nodding in agreement. "Yes please. I've had enough life-shattering news for one day, thank you very much."

Her eyes shifted downward guiltily. "I-I'm sorry this happened, Danny. I know you're scared."

It was silent for a minute. I opened my mouth, hesitating to ask the question and hear the answer. "You- you said that a condition of you being able to raise me was- was that you could keep me if I stayed human. I'm not human anymore. So, what-" I was cut off by Mom wrapping her arms around me.

"I'm so sorry, Danny. I'm sorry this whole thing is happening, I'm just-" a sob caught in her throat. "We're your parents. You're our son. We'd never give you up. But this means-" she took a shuddering breath. "-it means that you can't let anyone you wouldn't trust with your life know about you. If you want to stay with us, no one can tell. Alright?"

"So I take it that means I can't tell Jazz…" I smiled slyly and looked up at Mom.

"Danny!"


	6. PsychNOanalysis

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been a while. I've finally gotten over my writers block and I'm back. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this little guy.

We heard the front door slam shut and a feminine cry of “I’m home!” Mom looked up from the lab station computer, where she was analyzing some of my blood, and glanced over at me.  
“Danny, I think it’s time for you to talk to your sister.”  
“Can’t you do it?” I groaned. Mom only smirked and replied.

“I can be there, but it’s important that you tell her. It’ll help you come to terms with this whole situation.”

“Ugh. Fine.” Sliding off of the lab table, I started up the stairs. “But you’re coming with me.” Mom stood up, sighing.

“Of course.”

Jazz was sitting on the couch, reading some books when we finally got upstairs. Her eyes shifted from the withering textbook in her hands to me.  
“Hey, Danny. I haven’t seen you in a bit. Where’ve you been?”

“Uhmmm…. I- I- uh. I’ve been… in the lab. I guess.”

“You guess?” Her eyes narrowed with suspicion and her hands slowly shut the book.

“W-well. I-uhm. I’m- I eat ghosts.” I heard my mother put a gloved hand up to her face and probably wince at my pathetic explanation.

“What?” Jazz’s face twisted into a grimace of confusion and I opened my mouth to offer another ridiculous explanation, but Mom thankfully put me out of my misery.

“Jazz, honey. Danny isn’t exactly… human. You remember that project you did in fifth grade, where you had to find old pictures of your family, but you never saw a picture of me pregnant with Danny?”

“What.” It was more of a statement than a question, but it did describe Jazz’s emotions perfectly, I think.

“I was never pregnant with Danny. He was grown in an artificial womb in a lab. We- your father and I were hired to make a human-ghost hybrid, known as a halfa. But after thirteen failures, our sponsors wanted a predator, rather than just a half ghost. The predator was designed to be a hunter, and have features that would allow it to crave and eat ghosts. But the fourteenth experiment, when he was taken out of the artificial womb, he was completely human, so our sponsors let us keep him. That’s where we got Danny.”

Jazz looked faint. Her face was pale and incredulous. “So- so you’re telling me that my little brother is a ghost? Danny, a ghost?”

“He’s your half brother, actually. We had to get the halfa genes from somewhere, and in college there was an accident with the proto portal, and our partner, Vlad Masters, got turned into a halfa. We used his and my genes to make Danny-”

“God, Mom thanks for that picture.” I whispered.

“But we had a falling out. He went insane and tried to get me to leave your father and he burned down the lab where we worked. We only barely got Danny out. The GiW, our sponsors, figured that Vlad would rather raise Danny because he was alone and very wealthy. But Vlad rejected Danny because he was human, so your father and I took him in. We can keep him so long as he is human”

Jazz was completely silent, eyes wide, frozen to her seat.

“I was not emotionally prepared for this. I was just planning on having a nice day off, but _no! Of course not! Why would it be?! Why are you just springing this on us now?!_ ”

“Because, Danny was human. But his ghost genes are activating and he’s a halfa now.”  
“So you’re getting rid of him?!” Jazz jumped up, wrapping her arms around my neck protectively. “You’re not getting your hands on him!”

“Jazz!” I choked out, tapping the arm that was crushing my windpipe. Suddenly, my body got tingly. You know, when you fall asleep in a position and your arm falls asleep and you can’t even feel it when you wake up because it’s been in that position for over 8 hours? It was like that.

I was unbalanced and fell to the floor, straight through Jazz’s arms.

Feeling returned to by body and I hit the floor with a thud.

Their eyes shifted to me with surprise. “Danny!” They both yelled as they rushed over to my side. I sat up slowly, my eyes wide. “What was that?” I asked.

“You phased through Jazz.” Mom replied simply. “And Jazz, I’m not going to give him up. He’s my little boy and I would never let him go. We need to keep this a secret. No telling anyone outside of immediate family.”

Jazz nodded before she turned to me. “Are you alright Danny?”

“Yeah. I’m fine. Thanks for choking me, by the way.”

“Oh, sorry.”

“It’s fine.” I smiled up at her. She grinned back, helping me up. She shifted her eyes over to Mom.

“Anything other life changing things I should know?” Mom snickered at Jazz then looked over at me, an evil glint in her eyes. Frowning, I narrowed my eyes at her.

“Danny has the psychological aspects of a predator.” And with that, she strode out the room, feeling very pleased with herself. She knew Jazz would be intrigued, and wouldn’t leave it alone until she put me through an honest-to-god psychoanalysis session. Grimacing, I glanced over at Jazz, who had a ravenous look on her face.

She grabbed my hand and led me up to her room. “Jazz, no!”

“Danny, this is a psychological anomaly never before seen in humans. You can’t say no.”

“ _Jaaaaazzzzzz._ ” I whined as she set me down on her bed and sat down in her spinny chair, snagging a pad of paper and a pen.  
“So, Danny. Where would you like to start?”

“Maybe by leaving?”

“Not happening. Let’s do some word association. Just tell me the first word you think of when I give you a word. Okay?”

“No.”

“Let’s start.” She readied her pen over her paper. “Piano.” She offered.  
“Noise.” She nodded, scribbling down my answer.

“Ghost?”

“........”

“ _Danny.”_ She implored.

“Food.”

“Hunting?”

“....fun?

“Sleep?  
“Can we be done yet, Jazz?” She glanced down at her paper and sighed.

“Fine. But don’t think I’m letting this go.”  
“Oh, of _course_ not.”

 


	7. O dear

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, I'm so sorry this is so late, things just got away from me. I'm back and things are happening again, so yeah. Thank you for sticking with this little story.

“Danny.” I rolled away from the noise and pulled my blankets over my head, groaning. “Danny.” The source of the noise poked my side. Who is that? Jazz? Probably.”Danny.”Her prodding grew more insistent, but I curled myself into a tangle of sheets and blankets. “Danny, you have five seconds before I get a bucket.” My eyes snapped open and I sat straight up.

“Jazz, don’t you dare!”

“I thought that would get you up.” She chuckled. I slid out of the mess of covers and glared at her.

“Why am I up at-” I glanced over to the clock, “8 am on a Saturday?” Jazz’s face, which had, until this point, been smiling and sunny, turned into a ‘are you stupid?’ expression.

“Danny, do you know what day it is?”

“No, what’s that-”

“For god’s sake, Danny it is April 3rd, it is your birthday.” Jazz laughed and shook her head. “Do you need help finding your shirt too, or can I go?” she said sarcastically.

I rolled my eyes. “Whatever, Jazz. Get out before I strip.”  
“Gross.” She made a face and walked out, shutting the door carefully behind her.

I forgot that it was my birthday. I mean yeah, things have been weird, especially with the whole suddenly-being-half-ghost-and-hunting/eating-other-ghosts thing, and school, which has been a nightmare to put up with, especially when my ghost powers first started coming in, but it hasn’t been so bad that I would have a good excuse to forget my own birthday. Although, when I occasionally fall through floors or float through ceilings, I suppose that’s enough to make someone forget about trivial things like birthdays. Even if it’s my own.

I slid on some clothes and left my room, falling intangibly through the floor and dropping into the kitchen, where Dad was cooking some hopefully edible waffles. “Hey Dad.”  
He jumped and nearly tipped the bowl of batter onto the floor. He gave me a quick glare before he turned back to his cooking. “You’re getting good at that, but could you maybe make a little bit of noise?”  
“And miss out on giving your heart the workout it needs? Not a chance.”  I smirked and sat down at the table, flicking through newspaper pages boredly.

“Thanks.” Dad muttered. “Your uncle O is coming over today. He called and said he’d be over sometime around noon.”

“Really? Awesome! He wanted to see the model rocket I designed. He said he might suggest the design to his boss if it’s good.”

Uncle O is a good guy. He’s not actually my uncle, but he’s close enough to be. He’s technically my godfather I guess, but I never really get to see him. Just on holidays and whatever if he’s not busy. He works for an aerospace company down in Florida and is kinda the reason I love space so much.

“Danny, about uncle O…” Dad trailed off and looked down. “He’s not- you know he’s not your uncle, right?”

“Yeah, I’ve known that since forever.” I narrowed my eyes and stared suspiciously at Dad. He wrung his hands and shifted from foot to foot. Highly suspicious.

“He doesn’t actually work for any space company or anything. He’s- he’s government. He works for the GiW.”

“GiW? The GiW? The people who-” My voice broke and I felt my heart fall to my feet.

“Yeah, he was the agent who took care of you while you were in the artificial womb. Made sure you were getting enough oxygen and food, growing properly. He decided he would keep an eye on you after we got custody of you. We kept in contact and he became your uncle. He still works for the GiW, so you’ll have to be very careful around him.”

“How long is he staying?” I tried to control the shaking in my voice and gulped. I really do not want to go work for the GiW or be enslaved or experimented upon or hunt other ghosts and actually hunt them and ugh- no.

“His flight out is later on Monday. He’ll stay in the guest room, so you’ll have to eat all your ectoplasm right now so he doesn’t find it. And make sure he doesn’t see your fangs or claws.” Dad walked over to the fridge and swung the door open, pulling out a gallon jug of a delicious smelling sludge and setting it on the table. “Don’t even bother with a cup. Let’s see if you can chug it.”

I pushed all my thoughts of O to the back of my head and unscrewed the top of the ectoplasm. “How much do you want to bet?” I asked with a smirk.

He squinted with thought and smiled. “If you can chug all of that in five minutes I’ll do all your chores for the week. If you can’t, you do mine for the week.”

“Deal.” I raised the jug to my lips, relishing in the smell that curled into me, sour but sweet, with the aftertaste of electricity.

I felt the ectoplasm trickle down my throat, like swallowing an ice cube. Taking gulp after gulp, barely pausing to breathe through my nose between drinks.

“Danny!” The sudden shout nearly made me choke. “How many times have I told you not to drink out of the bottle, you’ll make us all sick!”  
“Maddie, it’s his ectoplasm, he’s chugging it, shh!” Dad flapped a hand at Mom in a vague gesture that said ‘calm down’.

“What’ve you bet on?”

“Chores.”  
“Obviously.” Mom rolled her eyes and made her way to the waffle maker, turning it over and digging out the nearly blackened waffle and flopping it on a plate. “Happy birthday, Danny.”

I tried to say thanks, but it came out as a jumbled mumble between gulps. She laughed and poured more batter in the waffle maker. “Once you finish your ectoplasm you can call Sam and Tucker. O will be here in a little while, so you may as well hang out with them while we wait for the party to start.”  
I once again tried to speak, but settled with nodding instead. “It’s been three minutes, Danny.” I gulped down the ectoplasm more urgently, having to take longer breaths between swallows.

“Four minutes.”

I took a final swig of the ectoplasm and dropped the empty jug on the table, gasping for air and burping.

“Four minutes and forty-nine seconds.” Dad sighed sadly. “Guess I’m going to do all your chores for a week.”

“That’s right you are.” I grinned victoriously and washed out the jug, sucking on my tongue to get the last of the taste out. “I’m gonna go talk to Sam and Tuck. Call me down when breakfast’s ready.”

I floated up through the ceiling and landed on my bed, grabbing my phone and texting an invite to both Sam and Tucker.

I set my phone down and flopped back on my bed, my mind drifting back to uncle O. What would even happen to me if he found out? Would he keep quiet? Probably not, he would get a raise for bringing me in, most likely.

But then what would happen to me? Would I just be locked up, or would I be used for my original purpose? A weapon against ghosts. I’m really not all that cool with being a weapon, to be honest.

What if they put me away and experimented on me? And not the near painless ones that Mom and Dad do, like blood tests and samples and stuff, but actual surgeries where they find out how I tick and whatever.

I supposedly have a ghost form that will be much more interesting than my human one because of a few ‘additions’. Really scary additions that I do not want to see or use or have anything to do with, but guess not because I’m feeling this thing build up in my chest and it feels like it’s just going to explode out of me, so I have that to look forward to.

Maybe O will keep my secret, just kinda ignore everything and pretend that it didn’t happen because, you know, I’m his godson and he’s basically the one that’s supposed to take care of me if Mom and Dad die horribly, and take care of my religious well being I guess?

I sigh and glance over at my clock. It’s not even nine yet and Sam and Tucker probably won’t even be here until 10. I hoist myself out of bed and lumber back down stairs. Breakfast should be ready soon.

* * *

 

Sam and Tucker arrived only ten minutes before O did, and he showed up an hour early, which honestly I should’ve expected.

We ate pizza and gorged ourselves on cake. Jazz choked and Tucker made himself a moustache out of frosting. O nearly fell off of his chair laughing when Sam gave Tucker a hat made of cake, which was interesting to see.

Sam and Tucker were dragged home by their parents at around 6, leaving me, O, Mom, Dad, and Jazz.

I have a whole weekend with O to look forward to now.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the guy, but the fact that he’ll probably turn me in to the government so he can get a promotion is not something that I’m really all that cool with. Before all of this I would’ve asked him to stay longer. He was one of my favorite people in the world. But now he apparently only stuck around to watch me and make sure I didn’t turn into a ghost or whatever, which he kinda totally missed the mark on. Plus, I can’t eat ectoplasm with him around, and that can only go well for so long before I actually lose it and hunt something down.

I put the new model rocket O had given me on my desk and went back downstairs, where O was sitting peacefully and watching TV with Mom and Jazz.

I plopped myself down next to Jazz, as far away from O as I could sit without being completely obvious and dove into the numb world of television.


	8. *Darth Vader music plays in the background*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, I'm on time, would you look at that! Anyway, this is a pretty important chapter and I want to thank you for reading this lil thing and I hope you enjoy this and have a nice day.

I blinked blearily at the whiteboard, trying and failing to focus on whatever was written up there that was supposedly related to Shakespeare.

My stomach curled in on itself when a tiny, almost nonexistent trace of ectoplasm wafted into my nostrils. I felt my claws poke out of the tips of my fingers, ready to attack whatever ghost- or more likely, Mom and Dad’s experiment- had dared venture too close. My fangs quivered in my mouth, barely held back from descending and making themselves known.

It was horrible, I’m starving, but I’m not. My human stomach is completely full, comfortably not hungry, but my ghost stomach is empty and for whatever reason, someone thought it would be a good idea to put spikes in it and it is stabbing itself and everything is very unpleasant, and I haven’t eaten ectoplasm since O got here three days ago and everything sucks.

Why on earth did anyone think making the ghost kid need ghosts as a form of sustenance was an actual good idea because I have a first hand account that it is not in any way okay.

Luckily, O will leave later today and I will be able to eat all the ectoplasm I want and it will be glorious.

But first I have to get through the school day.

A spasm tore through my body when the smell of ectoplasm got stronger. My vision blurred even more, making the world look like a blobby mess. Hot tears formed at the corners of my eyes, threatening to fall.

I battled through the pain, not even making a sound. Until a ghost phased through the white board.

The other students, even Mr. Lancer ran away screaming when the ghost lobbed an ectoblast weakly toward Mr. Lancer and put a hole through the wall instead of his head.

The smell of ectoplasm was too strong and my vision tunneled. The only thing I could see was the ghost, and it looked delicious.

I felt the pressure that had been building in my chest explode, finally releasing the chilled tension in my body.

I lunged.

It dodged.

I fired an ectoblast.

It was thrown into the hallway.

Everyone was watching. Some people had their phones out.

I tore into the ghost.

Every drop tasting like heaven, the sour taste feeling like it echoed around my body, energizing me and making the pain go away.

I heard someone yelling my name in the crowd, but I couldn’t bring myself to care.

I licked my fingers, swallowing what was left of the ghost and turned to my classmates. Looks of horror and confusion marred their faces. Sam and Tucker were edging around the hallway, trying to get into the classroom, probably to find me.

“Students, evacuate the hallway. I’m going to take care of this ghost.” O’s booming voice came from behind me. The students scattered, Sam and Tucker scurried into the classroom and hid behind the door, peeking around the corner to watch. “Ghost,” I turned to look at O, his suit was a crisp white and sunglasses hid his face. “ you’re coming with me.”

He pulled out an ectogun and charged it up, aiming it right at me.

The edges of my vision went black, I felt my body shake and weaken, the high from the ectoplasm wearing off. I was crashing.

The pressure returned to my chest with a flash of white light. The world tipped sideways and was dissolved by darkness.

* * *

 

The world blinked back into painful, aching existence. I reached an arm up to rub away the headache that was quickly forming between my eyes. Or, I would’ve reached up, but my arm was held firmly by my side, something cold and stiff holding it in place.

“Wha-?” I sat up as much as I could to look down at my wrists. Metal cuffs tied my hands and feet down to the edges of a hospital bed.

The hospital room, that I am apparently in, was painted a soft, yellow color, that brightened it up quite a bit. A large window overlooked an evergreen forest. A television hung just above a series of whiteboards marked with medical jargon and a telephone mounted on the wall. To the left of my bed, an uncomfortable looking seat held a man, O, snoring and drooling on his nice suit. I cleared my throat, trying to wake him up.

O jerked out of his sleep, his eyes flitted around the room anxiously before they landed on me. “You’re awake.” He stretched and sat up, adjusting his suit and grimacing at the damp puddle of drool.

“Just woke up. What happened?” He wiped off his face and looked down.

“Your parents told me everything when I brought you in. Did you really think it was a good idea to go without ectoplasm for three days?”

Memories came flickering back. Starvation, the ghost in the classroom, Sam and Tucker, eating the ghost, then darkness. “Well, no, but I couldn’t eat any around you, you would’ve found out. Not that it matters much now…” I trailed off and sighed.

“Yeah, well, your parents should’ve called me right when it first happened. I don’t want them to go to prison.”

“So don’t tell anyone.”

“Danny, we’re in Wisconsin. We’re in the GiW HQ medical wing. Everyone already knows.”

Panic “What-but, what about Mom and Dad?”

“I told everyone it was the first time anything happened. It was sudden. Your parents had no idea, because there was nothing to have an idea of. They thought you were still human, you thought you were still human, and there were no symptoms of your species change until it was all triggered all at once because of the ghost in the classroom.”

O looked guilty. Why? He saved my parents, and me probably. “Thank you.”

“It was no problem, Dann-o. But you know what this means, right? You have to pretend like you have no idea how to use your powers or anything, but remember that I’ve supposedly explained all of this to you. So pretend like you know about it, but don’t actually know. If that makes any sense.” I nodded grimly and his face brightened into a smirk. “ Honestly, what kind of godfather would I be if I arrested your parents for something like this?” He put on a fake smile and ruffled my hair.

“Not much worse than you are now.” I snarked. “But can I  get out of these cuff things, they’re kinda restricting.”  
He snorted. “They’re supposed to be. I need to go get the doctor. Hold on.” He stood and walked over to the door, opening it a crack and calling into the hallway. When he came back, an older woman, dressed in a labcoat was with him.

“Hello, Danny. I’m Dr.Shaw. I’m your attending physician. I just need to check you over and we can get you out of those restraints. Could you please lay down?”

I did as I was told as the doctor bustled around, checking the IV that had been carefully jabbed into my arm, slowly feeding me ectoplasm from the drip. She slid it out of my arm, holding a pad of gauze up to it to staunch the bleeding and taped it up.

After a few more quick checks and a little bit of fussing, she undid the straps at my wrists and helped me sit up, giving me a glass of water to drink before clearing me and scurrying out of the room with a polite goodbye.

“What now?” I asked O. “Do I get to go home?”

O winced and took a deep breath. “Uhm, well-no.”

I felt my heart drop. “What?! Why not?!”

“Because of the agreement between your parents and the government. Technically you’re the property of the GiW. While you were out everyone was debating about what should be done with you. You’ll be able to go back home when you’re not on a mission or in training, and your family will be able to visit you if you’re not busy. But we can call you in whenever to go on a mission.”

“Why are you letting me see them?” I narrowed my eyes at him distrustingly. It’s a fair question, I mean, I’m basically their slave or whatever, so why would they let me keep my old life?

“You’ve already established a life for yourself in Amity Park. It would be suspicious if you suddenly disappeared without a trace. Suspicion makes people investigate, and when people investigate, they find things, and the next thing we know, this whole experiment is on the front page of papers. Not everything that’s been going on here has been exactly… constitutional, if you catch my drift. Human experimentation is technically illegal with things like this, and we’ve got 14 skeletons in our closet from the Halfa Program alone, don’t even get me started on all the other experiments we’ve tried out.”

Oh, so they’re letting me live a semi-normal life just to save face. Nothing else. No reasons like ‘because he’s still half human and has feelings and shit’. Just for publicity. That makes me feel super safe. “What happens now, then?”

O walked confidently out the door and into the hallway, with me trailing behind. “You need to be trained. An inexperienced kid going up against a ghost with powers you can barely control? That’s a lawsuit waiting to happen.” We rushed through the endless white hallways and eventually reached an elevator.   
The inside was, surprise, surprise, white. O pushed a button labeled 34 and the elevator lurched into action, bringing us up to the 34th floor. The doors slid open with a ding, and we stepped out and walked down more white hallways.

We finally stopped in front of some large double doors, white, obviously, and imposing. O opened the door and strode inside, setting a large hand on my shoulder.

Lab equipment was shoved into one corner of the massive room, possibly a gym. Exercise equipment was scattered throughout. In the corner with the science junk was a man, tall and lean, a thin ponytail of white-gray hair tied neatly back over his neck. He heard the door slam shut behind me and O and turned around, his crystal blue eyes set deeply into his face, edged with crow’s feet, beneath them bags drooped, giving his face a more elongated appearance. His eyes landed on me and a sickly sweet smile came to his thin lips. “You must be Daniel,” He sauntered towards me, hand outstretched. I felt O tighten his grip on my shoulder. “I am going to be training you. I’m Vlad Masters.”


End file.
